Anyone have any experience with the BVK III flyreel ? How would they compare to Lamson Litespeed 3.5 ? Looking for an affordable, light , mid range bonefish reel for back up .:confused:

JR SPEY

02-03-2012, 03:31 PM

I've caught a few fish on my #3 (sometimes referred to as the 7/8.) It is very light, has an adequate drag for a reel of this capacity. It's capacity is not as high as the 3.5 Litespeed so if you need that much capacity I would go in that direction. The rumor mill has TFO coming out with another model one size higher (9/10.) If they do so, I'd say it would be comparable to the Lamson. And it might be a touch lighter than the Lamson. I would have no qualms about chasing bonefish with mine with a 7 or 8 weight rod. The measured maximum drag on mine is 1.75# coming off a full spool and measured on a Chatillon scale.

sidelock

02-03-2012, 06:39 PM

How many yards of 20lb micron backing do you think I can get on 7/8 ? Are u sure the maximum drag is 1.75lb or should that read 17.5lbs ?

JR SPEY

02-04-2012, 11:16 AM

There are only about a half dozen reels in the entire marketplace that have an honest 17.5# drag max. I got my decimal in the correct location. I can't imagine anyone needing more drag than 1.75# for the species that can be pursued with a reel of this capacity. If you're sure you do, then the BVK isn't for you. On one of my spools I have a Monic WF8F FST Bonefish line and almost exactly 200yds of SA System backing, which is quite comparable to Cortland's Micron. So far it's only been used when flats fishing for carp, but it'll get a chance at bones reel soon. Hope this helps!

sidelock

02-04-2012, 02:50 PM

I've never used a scale to measure drag, always done it by feel. Just sounded rather light but if you put a scale to it , one can't really argue.